Virtualizing a base station is understood to mean opening up the base station, the associated frequency band in which it operates, the amplifiers and radios, or generally any physical aspects of the base station for use by other parties.
Among the known proposals to virtualize base stations, there are virtualizing the analog layer, operating most of the base station in cloud computer systems, and virtualizing the base station and associated radio-access network via Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)-like structures. None of these traditional approaches provide a solution that is technically simple, yet flexible enough to allow for easy integration in existing networks, and offers the possibility to develop different business opportunities.
Recently, the concept of running multiple virtual machines inside a base station, representing different virtual operators, has been proposed. However, the problem of efficiently informing user equipment of the presence and capabilities of these virtual operators has not been resolved.